Urban Decay Naked Skin Liquid Foundation

I'm a HUGE fan of Urban Decay. Ever since I bought my first UD Palette (Ammo Palette), I was hooked. When they debut the Naked Palette, I couldn't wait to get my hands on it. As you all know, the Naked line became so popular that they created the Naked 2 palette, as well as some lip gloss & lip liner that compliments the line. It was only a matter of time before they came out with the Naked Liquid Foundation.

Now, when I first heard of the news I was very excited. However, I wasn't about to run out the door and be the first in line because I have my go-to foundation. I wanted to wait to hear what others have to say before making a decision.
Reviews came pouring in and most of them were very positive. I didn't want to buy it online because I want to actually test the product and be able to match it to my skin tone instead of guessing by look through the swatches online. Off to Ulta I go! (Sephora didn't have it in stores yet)

On the display at Ulta, Urban Decay had these transparent strips that had a swatch of each shade to help you find the perfect match. Well, these strips were not very helpful. The swatches were so light that when I held it up to my jawline, it looked like I could wear shades 1.0 to 5.0.

The transparent strip against my arm

Here's a better shot of the strip against a white backdrop

After swatching the actual product, I was a torn between 3.0 or 3.5. Any shade that ends in .0 has a yellow/olive undertone, and shades that ends in .5 has a pink/neutral undertone. Because I'm working so much in the sun this summer, it was a little hard to match my "winter" skin tone. With the help of an Ulta sales associate, I decided on the 3.0.

Let's take a look at the packaging. Best part is that it has a pump! My other liquid foundation bottles (L'oreal True Match & Maybelline FitMe) doesn't come with pumps so I was more than happy to see that UD have made theirs with it. 

I was surprised how much control the pump gives you as to how much product you want. This is great for when you need to go back over any imprefections with a little more product. 

UD also came out with a new brush to go hand-in-hand with the new foundation, the Good Karma Optical Blurring Brush. 

Just like their other brushes, it has synthetic fibers. This brush has surpassed my favorite stippling brush- which I have always used to apply my foundation. The bristles are densely-packed, but not so dense that it doesn't bend. It is very, very soft to the touch. I felt that it distributed the foundation evenly all over my face and blended flawlessly. I've even tried it out with my other foundation and BB cream. I've been reach for the brush every time I wear foundation. 

As far as the foundation goes, it does what it says. It's more on the watery/runny side, which made it very buildable. It feels so lightweight on my skin, as if I'm not even wearing foundation. It has a demi-matte finish, so it doesn't look cakey OR overly dewy. The light-diffusing spheres gives you the perfect glow. I did notice that it is important to moisturize your face as well as apply primer before using this foundation. When I didn't use primer, I thought that the foundation made my skin look a little dry and flaky. 

Other than that, I'm really impressed with this product. I love that it feels so light!!! Some foundations makes you feel like the make up is slowly slipping off your face once you start sweating or as the day goes by, but the Naked Skin stays put all day long!

Here's a picture of me wearing Naked Skin:

I think that the 3.0 matches me pretty well considering that I'm pretty tanned from working outside this summer.

I wonder if Urban Decay is already working on a pressed powder to go with the liquid foundation.

Have you tried the Naked Skin Foundation? What did you think of it? Let me know by commenting below. Also, my Naked Skin application video should be up on YouTube in a couple of days =)

**Naked Skin Foundation retails for $38 and the Good Karma Optical Blurring Brush retails for $24.

April Collective Haul

I've been trying to upload my April Collective Haul video for hours now and it's taking forever... so I'm in the process to edit the video into 2 parts so it uploads faster.

In the meantime, I thought I'd post pictures & mini review of some of the products.

ELF Cream Eyeshadow in Dawn

When I saw this at Target, I had to get it because I wanted to compare it to the Loreal Infallible shadows and the Maybelline 24hr Tattoo. I don't own any other colors that are similar except for the 24hr tattoo in Bad to the Bronze. Still, the color isn't an exact match. But I didn't buy it to compare color, I wanted to compare the consistency & wear-ability. Unfortunately, it doesn't last as long as the Infallible or 24hr tattoo, but if you use primer it minimize the creasing & doesn't fade away as quickly. I also noticed that the Infallible/24hr Tattoo shadow go on much smoother than the Elf cream shadow.
Although this product isn't as long lasting, it's still a great buy at $3 each. The color is still very vibrant and as long as you use primer on your lids, you shouldn't have to worry about it creasing or fading.

Simple Soothing Facial Toner is awesome! Prior to this, I was using the Proactive toner (the one that came with the 3 step system). It worked ok but it would sting/burn a lot of the time... With the Simple toner, there's no tingling or burning, and it's perfume free. Once I started using this, I felt my skin becoming more smooth and even toned. I've also tried the Simple facial wipes which is just as good. I'm definitely repurchasing this toner once I run out.

Urban Decay's Build Your Own Palette- I was so excited when Urban Decay reformulated their eyeshadows. To top it off, I thought the BYO palette was a great idea. This is a palette that'll allow me to collect different shades over time, without having to go through the depotting process. I also own a z-palette, which I love and still use, but I'm a huge UD fan and love the newly reformulated shadows. This is pretty much the perfect product for me, haha. As you can see in the picture, I haven't purchased any of the new shadows yet. I only have the Walk of Shame (a nude/neutral shade that came w/it) and Sin in the original UD packaging.

You can put the original packaging shadows in there, but it doesn't pop in and out as easily as the new design. I wish that the palette could fit more than 6 shadows, but it's still convenient for traveling. Sometimes, with my Z-palette, but shadows pans slide around which can get a little annoying. I'm also on the fence about the shade that was made exclusively for this palette, Walk of Shame. Like I said, it's just another nude shade, which I have plenty of. I wish that UD would let the buyers pick their own shade OR have the option to opt out of having the Walk of Shame for a discount on the palette. Oh well... lol!

Final verdict is that I love it, and I can't wait to start collecting different colors!

To see my complete haul:

Recreated: Sultry Blue Smokey Eyes

This Sultry Blue Smokey eye was created by Letitia Laura (YouTube). Usually, I don't wear blue eyeshadow. I like to stick with more neutral tones like browns and grays, but when I saw the tutorial for this look I thought "I gotta try this". She didn't use a harsh blue and I thought the gray worked really well with it. So here's what I did to recreate the look:

Letitia applied a white shadow base on her lids first. Since I didn't have a white shadow base, I used my Elf shadow primer in Pearl (it came in a set of 3 - pearl, champagne, and sheer $3)

Next, she applied a blue shimmer shadow by Inglot. I don't own any Inglot shadows (though I wish I did!), so I improvised and used the L'oreal Infallible in Infinite Sky.

To intensify the blue, I applied Urban Decay's Shatter on top.

Letitia applied a matte gray into the crease. I don't know the name of the gray I used because it's from an Elf palette, but any matte gray will work. Then use a matte black for my lash line (use angle brush to wing it out).

Using the same matte black shadow and line the outer lower lash line. 

To finish off the look, I applied a little bit more Shatter to my lids, and applied mascara. Letitia added glitter and falsies which made the look even more gorgeous and intense.  I didn't do that since I just wanted to see if the colors would look okay on me. When I do this again (for a night out), I will probably add falsies and glitter as well.

Here's the final look:

I really liked this look and can't wait to try it again (complete with foundation, blush, and lipgloss) for a night out. To see all the products that Letitia Laura used, check out her tutorial! 

 

**Special thanks to Letitia Laura for allowing me to post this on my blog.

-Wendy